The last “long chunker” as I have been referring to the 11+ hour drives from Vancouver to Glacier National Park was a blast. Having my dad to keep me company in addition to Stevie was a nice change of pace. We stopped and enjoyed a killer pastrami sandwich by the river in Spokane. Having been my first time in a state that has legalized marijuana I was very amused by the “punny” names of dispensaries such as “Spokecannabis” and “Smokane”.

Glacier National Park is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Everything was stunning but the color of the water I found particularly amazing. The aqua glacier lakes are crystal clear (literally) to the point I could see the bottom of a large rock partially submerged in Hidden Lake from an overlook 800 ft above. We got lucky and despite Labor Day tourists did not have to fight the crowds on trails or parking and found the park incredibly peaceful.

Our luck continued with wildlife spotting. Hiking, we saw tons of little pikas (little squirrel like creatures that stand up like prairie dogs) and came within 30 feet of mountain goats. The one day it was raining we drove the Going to the Sun Road (which bisects the park and goes up to 7000 ft into the mountains) and happened to pull up while a ranger was trying to scare away a bear (we are not sure whether it was a grizzly or a black bear) that ended up on his hind legs arms out in full on attack mode! The ranger eventually threw some sort of flare in front of him which scared him off but it was a pretty rare sighting especially since we were only around 50 feet from him (and grateful to be in the car).

We found a gem of a diner in Whitefish called Loula’s (HIGHLY recommend if you are ever in the area). Everything we had there was phenomenal (burgers, chicken&waffles, and a huckleberry pie that was out of this world.)

After a quick hike around the MacDonald Falls this morning we headed to Flathead Lake on our way to Wyoming.

We are currently headed to Yellowstone National Park and excited to see what adventures lay ahead!!!